Gender balance is part of the Emirati culture consolidated by wise leadership

The UAE is moving ahead to be one of the best countries by
achieving gender balance by 2021. Gender balance is one of the important milestones
of the UAE Agenda and Vision 2021. The UAE seeks to provide equal opportunities
to men and women in all fields to contribute to the national economic growth
and fulfil its obligations regarding UN Agenda 2030 Goals.

In support of this successful journey, the UAE established the Gender
Balance Council to set effective mechanisms to reduce the gender gap in all
sectors. The council seeks to achieve gender balance in decision-making
centres. It seeks to start initiatives and offer innovative ideas regarding
gender balance to enhance the UAE’s ranking in the world competitiveness
reports and its position as a reference for gender balance laws at the regional
level.

To exchange experience and build fruitful partnerships
with international organisations, the UAE Gender Balance Council developed the
gender balance guidelines in cooperation with the OECD. They are the first
federal guidelines, which deal with gender balance issues.

The guide provides practical steps to entities on how to
enhance gender balance in their offices. It provides tangible procedures to
enable the public and private sectors to promote gender balance in leadership
positions.

It links the main procedures and the three progress
levels, which evaluate the gender balance progress and achieve milestones. It
describes how the UAE Gender Balance Council supports entities to achieve their
gender balance goals.

As a culmination of the efforts exerted to achieve
balance gender according to the guideline, H. H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum honoured Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign
Affairs and International Cooperation, with a medal for the Best Personality
Supporting Gender Balance. He honoured Sheikh Abdullah in recognition for his
strong support to women in the diplomatic sector.

He also honoured Federal Competitiveness and Statistics
Authority (FCSA) as the Best Federal Entity supporting gender balance. Reem
bint Ibrahim Al Hashmi, Minister of State for International Cooperation and
Chairwoman of FCSA, received the ‘UAE Gender Balance Seal’.

Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) was honoured
for the Best Initiative Supporting Gender Balance for its ‘Women in Boards’
initiative. SCA aims to increase female representation on the boards of public
shareholding companies to 20 percent by 2020.